Karlovac
Today’s city of Karlovac developed from a medieval fortress built for defense from Turkish incursions into Central Europe. It was founded on July 13, 1579. The central part of the old town is still based on the fortress remnants, shaped as a six-pointed star, once surrounded by strong walls and deep moats.
From its inception, Karlovac has been one of the biggest traffic junctions in Croatia. The reason for this is primarily from its exceptionally favorable geographical position in the western part of Croatia, as well as the confluence of river valleys of Kupa, Korana, Mrežnica and Dobra.
Karlovac is visited by a large number of tourists each year. They are drawn by the four clean rivers and their tributaries, various possibilities for many diverse forms of recreation, hunting, fishing, numerous cultural and historical monuments, as well as a large number of localities attractive to tourists in the wider surrounding area.
On a hill with a beautiful view of the town, lies the Old Town of Dubovac, one of the most attractive and best preserved architectural monuments of the feudal age. On the site of the present-day fort, there are still traces of an Early Stone Age settlement, while the castle was built at the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century.
Today, Dubovac is a popular vantage point and destination for excursions. The guard tower contains a permanent exhibition of historical records which tell the story of the turbulent history of the fortress, and nearby there is one of the oldest and most beautiful town shrines, the Early Baroque church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Snows.
Tanks, howitzers, anti tanks and anti aircraft canons, tackled MIG 21 aircraft, armored transporter... Those are exhibit articles of weapons of Independence war (1991-1995) in Karlovac district Turanj.
The collection is set up on the battlefield of the biggest battles of Croatian army, which defended Karlovac, next to the main road Karlovac-Plitivice lakes. Here is also a memorial for 239 soldiers who died defending Turanj.
Surrounded by six bastions connected with walls, the fortress was named after its founder the Archduke Karl (Charles), while with the expansion of the town it was named after its shape: Zvijezda (the Star).
The theatre was established by the Zora choral association (the first organised Croatian choral society) in 1892 and became the most important cultural institution in the town. From 1987-2001 it was completely renovated.
The gardens were designed as an open-style botanical garden. They were arranged in the style of English and French parks and contain rare trees and plants. They were named after Mayor Josip Vrbanić, who established them in 1886.
The park is located in the southeastern part of the town, between the Korana river and the Karlovac ''Star" (Zvijezda). It is a part of Karlovac which is located on the left bank of the Korana river.